The Almedalen Week is one of the most important weeks in Swedish politics, with tens of thousands of attendees gathering in the city of Visby to attend seminars, forums, and hear representatives of the major political parties give speeches.
During the 2014 Almedalen Week at the end of June, Swedish national broadcaster TV4 produced every speech given by the political parties’ leaders in 4K Ultra HD. This formed part of the ongoing work to modernise and future-proof the production formats of TV4 and TV4 Play.
At the heart of the production lies Sony’s 4K live camera system, consisting of the PMW-F55 Super 35mm 4K CMOS sensor camera, the CA-4000 4K transmission fibre adapter, the BPU-4000 4K base band processor unit and the HDCU-2000 camera control unit.
“We’re continually working to develop TV4 and TV4 Play for the television experience of the future. 4K resolution will only become more and more popular, and we want to test the new opportunities this format can offer us and our viewers,” said Cecilia Beck-Friis, EVP and Technology Manager at TV4-Gruppen.
Every party leader’s speech in Almedalen was filmed using the Sony PMW-F55, with the speeches broadcast live on a 85-inch Bravia. The 4K signal was transported from the Almedalen Park to TV4’s studio via a fibreoptic connection.
Said TV4’s digital project manager, Jonathan Nordin; “We don’t have any official information yet on when Swedish TV broadcasters might start offering 4K broadcasts to their regular consumers. The Almedalen production was mainly an opportunity for visitors who were on site to see and experience the new 4K format.”
